Clock
is the third episode of Garo. Synopsis An elusive Horror named Morax inhabits timepieces and kills his victims before sunset. Despite Kouga's best efforts to stop him from feeding, the Horror always escapes or uses humans it possesses as a shield. But now Morax has set his sights on eating Kaoru...can Kouga protect her before its too late? Plot Summary Kouga stands on the roof of a building waiting for sundown, which is when a Horror will strike. Zaruba detects its presence in an alley near them and Kouga leaps off the building to pursue his prey. On the steps of a subway terminal, two gentlemen find a wristwatch, with one named Hirasawa deciding to keep it and places it on his wrist. The "watch" is actually a Horror, who extends spider-like legs from its body to "bite" Hirasawa and begins feeding on him. The Horror then goes inside his body and rips it in half after he is done feeding, with the remains of the body turning into sand. Kouga rushes on the scene too late to stop it, but chases after the other man believing him to be under the Horror's control. Kouga catches him and uses his Madou Lighter to try and see if the man is a Horror, but Zaruba confirms he isn't one. Confused and frustrated, Kouga wonders where his quarry went. Kaoru is doing bicycle deliveries while narrating about how merciless time is and how she never seems to have enough of it to fulfill her dreams. Her plans for the future did not turn out like she had dreamed it would be when she was a child. During her musings, she gets lost on her delivery route and panics as she is going to be late for her delivery. At the Watchdog Castle, Kouga purifies his sword and gets berated by the Watchdogs for his failure. Kouga gives them a vial of the sand from the corpse he found and inquires about the Horror as its feeding habits are not normal like the others, deducing that it must use a way to enter inside the victim for the bodies to be in such a state. The Watchdogs tell him this is correct and the Horror's name is Morax and that the Horror like to use a"lure" to entice its prey. They also remind Kouga that they do not approve of using Kaoru, as her time will soon end. They speak of how those that are stained in the blood of Horrors live only for 100 days, only to be stopped mid-sentence by Kouga who reminds them she is merely bait to catch Horrors and he will kill her before her time ends. Back at the Saezima Estate, Gonza finds information on Morax from the private library, informing his master that it is a Time-type Horror. Kouga realizes this means it can enter clocks and both see this as problematic as everyone in Japan has some kind of timepiece on their person at all times, so anyone can be a victim. Gonza says in one historical record, Morax wiped out an entire town in one single night, stressing the danger Morax could unleash if left alone. Gonza realizes this is the first Horror that Kouga has faced that does not take on a humanoid form, with his master pondering how he can defeat such an opponent. In a park, Kaoru takes a short break from cycling and tries to hydrate herself only for her boss to call and say she has a customer waiting for her to run an errand. She heads toward the location, struggling to push her bike on the dirt road. Upon going past the trees, she sees a huge mansion and is in awe at the size of it, wondering who would live in a majestic old style mansion like this in the modern era. She parks her bike, heads for the door and is greeted by Gonza, who escorts her into the hall. Kaoru is in awe of the beautiful mansion, only for her joy to be ruined by a familiar strict voice: Kouga, who informs her she was late arriving. Angry and wanting to leave, she tells Kouga that obviously she has the wrong house, only to be told that this IS his house. She thinks this is a joke and says she is busy working before asking what Kouga wants to send. It turns out it is nothing, Kouga simply summoned her to inform her to avoid all clocks, confiscating her wristwatch, and that she will stay near him at all times as it is inconvenient when she goes wherever she wants. This annoys Kaoru as she needs a watch to make her deliveries on time. Gonza tries to relieve the tension by introducing himself to Kaoru, and he will be happy to serve her needs. But Kaoru and Kouga argue and Kaoru thinks its creepy that Kouga gave her a ring, follows her around and tells her to stay in his home. She exclaims that he acts like he forcefully intends to marry her while struggling to get the ring off her finger, much to Kouga's confusion. Gonza reassures Kaoru that it not the case, but she angrily exclaims that she has her own life and dreams. Zaruba interrupts telling Kouga it is almost dusk and they need to go, convincing him to allow Kaoru to stay in the guest room just for the night. This confuses Kaoru has she searches for the voice, only for Kouga to show her Zaruba. Zaruba introduces himself to Kaoru, which startles her for a second, Zaruba then explains that he detects Horrors for his master and the ring she wears on her finger is a fragment of himself so he knows where she is at all times. This creeps out Kaoru and she tries to ask Zaruba to remove it, when he ignores her, she flicks his eye. Kouga is annoyed and leaves, but Kaoru reminds him that he has still not paid for the painting he got from her exhibition where they met. Irritated, Kouga tells Gonza to pay her...for the delivery fee for coming to his home. At an all girls high school, two track racers are being timed, with one girl named Ayano beating the school's track time record. She celebrates as the camera pans to the white wristwatch she is wearing. Later that night, Kouga visits the high school to investigate. In the classroom, the girls are getting changed and Ayano tells her classmates she found the wristwatch on the ground, the model is one she always wanted. Ayano considers it a good luck charm before she stops and starts acting strange, laughing in an unnatural voice like a lunatic. Ayano's legs dissolve into sand, leaving her torso sitting in a pile of sand that was once her legs. She snaps out of her possession, crying a few tears, only to quickly die as she is ripped apart and turned into sand. The girls scream as Kouga bursts into the classroom, sees the remains of the corpse and slashes apart all the girls watches with his sword. Zaruba tells him that Morax was not in those watches, while the three girls look in terror at the strange man who "attacked" them. As Kouga searches, he tells the girls to run, only for one of them to have their hand near a stopwatch, which contains Morax. Morax latches onto the girl and takes control of her, leaping out the glass window and using her natural sprinting abilities to outrun Kouga. At Ryuzaki's office, Karune asks Kaoru to deliver the rough draft script of his latest book to his publisher immediately. Kaoru heads out to deliver the package. The chase between Morax and Kouga continues on a bridge and the two engage in an exchange of blows before Morax leaps onto another bridge and gets hit by a truck. Morax cannot move too well with the damage the girl's body had taken, hoping to find another host to occupy. Morax then tries to use Kouga's sympathy for humans by using the limp body of the girl he controls as a shield by threatening to force herself to jump off the bridge. Kouga hesitates and pleads Morax to not harm her, but Morax mocks his compassion as weakness and jumps anyway. Kouga leaps and catches the girl as Morax detaches from his host and lands near a new potential host on the bridge. Morax changes into a women's gold watch to attract a wealthy woman to it. The woman picks it up and despite Kouga's efforts to stop her, Morax attaches itself to her and takes control of her body. Kouga fights Morax some more and puts his blade to the woman's throat, but cannot bring himself to cut down an innocent human who is possessed and could be saved. Morax mocks him again and then detaches from the woman's arm, dropping into the river. Morax emerges from a sewer grate near Kaoru as she struggles to find her way again using her map. Morax tries to pounce onto her bike, only for Kaoru to move and Morax to fall off. Morax tries again and chases after Kaoru. Zaruba detect this and warns Kouga that Morax is near Kaoru. After several tries, Morax clings to Kaoru's bicycle and rides with her to her destination: a clock tower. Kouga arrives at the clock tower and climbs the stairs to the top of the tower where the clock's inner workings are. He sees Kaoru tied up in a chair and tries to wake her, only for a massive clockwork blade pendulum to descend and nearly crush him and then gets hit by an "arm" made of clock hands and razor sharp gears that act as sawblades. The face of the clock becomes the true face of Morax, who welcomes Kouga to his new home and congratulates him for being the first Makai Knight to enter his body and survive. Kouga asks what Morax plans to do with Kaoru, the clockwork Horror replies that she is a "first rate meal" and he will devour her very slowly. Kouga draws his sword and tries to fight Morax, who uses his various clockwork arms to try to smash, slash and rip apart the Makai Knight. The arms overpower Kouga as he struggles to avoid them and counter, eventually he is pinned down and has a pendulum blade at his throat. Morax tells Kouga that it would be better if she is eaten by him, as she is stained in the blood of Horrors and will die anyways. Morax then asks Kouga to leave, if he does so, he will spare the Knight. Kouga breaks free and refuses the offer, as even if Kaoru has little time left on this Earth, it should be hers to cherish and she should live to the very end. Kouga manages to get enough distance to be out of Morax's reach and quickly becomes Garo. Garo then quickly slices up the clockwork arms and uses his enhanced agility to evade getting hit, then leaps forward slicing the remaining arms in half and begins cleaving Morax's head in two. Morax asks why he would go so far to protect a human, with Garo only replying it is his duty as a Knight. Garo then breaks through Morax's skull, pulling out and destroying his physical Horror body from the clock. Kaoru is untied from her bonds as the clock tower begins to crumble, Kouga then carries her to safety as the clock tower collapses into dust. Kaoru wakes up in Kouga's arms and is upset, demanding to be let go and put down on the ground. Kouga then simply drops her and complains that this woman "never shuts up". Kaoru is confused wondering what she was doing out here, but Kouga grabs her arm and gives her back her watch, cryptically telling her to "cherish her time". Kaoru asks what he even wants with her in the first place before realizing she is very late for her delivery and hurries back to her bicycle, only to get a flat tire enroute and be forced to keep going. Cast * : * : * : * : * : *Keiru (Voice): * : *Beru (Voice): * : *Rose (Voice): * : * : Guest Cast * : * : * : * : * : * : * : *Old Lady: Suit Actors *Garo: *Morax: Notes *The method in which humans decompose after being devoured by Morax is similar to the from , as both turn to dust after they die. *''to be added'' Home Video Release * Garo Season 1 Vol. 1 featured episodes 1-13 on two discs, with English subtitles by Kraken Releasing. References Category:Garo episodes Category:Chapter of the Black Wolf episodes